Katherine Gilger, violin

Violinist Katherine Gilger is an active performer and teacher. She regularly performs with the North Carolina Symphony in Raleigh, NC and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in Atlanta, Georgia. She has also performed with the Rhode Island Philharmonic, the APEX Ensemble in Montclair, New Jersey; the Charleston Symphony in Charleston, South Carolina; and with the North Carolina Opera. Furthermore, Katherine is the Assistant Concertmaster of The Venice Symphony in Venice, Florida, which she joined in the 2022/2023 season and holds the Schultz & Hill Foundation Chair.

A graduate of the Mannes School of Music in New York City where she received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees, Katherine studied with David Chan, concertmaster of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and renowned pedagogue Aaron Rosand. Furthermore, while attending the Aspen Music Festival and School for four summers, she studied with Indiana University professor and Dallas Symphony concertmaster Alex Kerr and Rice University professor Paul Kantor. As concertmaster of the Mannes Orchestra, Katherine has performed in venues including Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium, and the New York City Center and has collaborated with the internationally renowned Martha Graham Dance Company, the Mannes Opera, and The New School for Jazz.

Furthermore, Katherine is an active chamber musician having performed with members of the American Ballet Theatre, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and she and her colleagues in the Mannes Quartet were part of the Orchestra of St. Luke’s Chamber Music Mentorship Program.

A frequent recitalist, Katherine has played recent concerts in Vermont, North Carolina, upstate New York for the Young Musicians Forum, and New York City in venues including the Bohemian National Hall, the Frick Collection, the House of the Redeemer, the Morgan Library & Museum, and Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall. 

Katherine maintains a varied private teaching studio with students of all ages and levels. She is currently on the violin faculty at the 92nd Street Y Gilda and Henry Block School of the Arts in New York City and the NYC Violin Studio where she teaches violin, piano, and viola.

Katherine began playing the violin at seven years of age and the piano at four. Growing up in Raleigh, North Carolina, she studied violin with Izabela Spiewak, Sarah Johnson, Richard Luby, and North Carolina Symphony Assistant Concertmaster Rebekah Binford. During her high school years, she served as concertmaster of three youth orchestras: the Triangle Youth Philharmonic, the North Carolina Symphony’s Young All Stars Chamber Orchestra, and the Duke University Strings School Youth Symphony Orchestra.

Katherine has performed in master classes for renowned artists and teachers including Ida Kavafian, Daniel Stabrawa, Sylvia Rosenberg, Leila Josefowicz, Lara St. John, Stephen Clapp, Patinka Kopec, David Updegraff, Herbert Greenberg, Joan Kwuon, the Borromeo Quartet, and the Weilerstein Trio.

When not practicing and performing, Katherine enjoys traveling, hiking, horseback-riding, and spending time with friends, family, her adorable dog Riley, and her chinchilla Aski.